


Recession

by inamac



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fix-It, Gen, Hair, Harry Potter Epilogue Compliant, Kings Cross, Sibling Rivalry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:27:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25898185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inamac/pseuds/inamac
Summary: That moment on the platform at Kings Cross in the Epilogue, and why exactly Draco's hairline is receding.
Kudos: 3





	Recession

**Author's Note:**

> Lots of factors have been bubbling at the back of my mind for some time - post-war baby boom, longevity of Wizards, Draco's receding hairline TM, star names, (did you know there's a star called Peacock?), the experience of having a younger sibling and the usual desire to stand fannish conventions on their heads. This seems to be the result. Originally posted to my IJ in 2008.

**Recession**  
By Ina MacAllan

**September 2017, Kings Cross**

The steam had thinned for a moment, and a cluster of figures stood in sharp relief against the shifting mist. Draco Malfoy looked up from his last-minute instructions to his son, and noticed the group of people standing further down the platform. Harry Potter and his hangers-on. He nodded curtly to them and turned away again, and then felt a sudden cool breeze across his brow. He clapped a hand to his forehead, meeting naked skin rather than the fringe that should have been brushing his brows.

"What the f... fiddle?!"

His son looked up sharply, not fooled by the parental self-censorship. "Oh Daddy! What happened to your hair?"

Now Draco was scanning the crowd around the train with narrowed eyes. "Your Uncles happened," he growled, spotting a quartet of blond heads further down the platform, surrounded by rather more trunks, sports equipment and animal cages than any two students could possibly need.

"Darling, will you see Scorpius onto the train? I need to deal with this urgently." Without waiting for a reply he strode rapidly down the platform, long coat swinging, fingers curled to surreptitiously touch the handle of his wand in its wrist-sheath.

The crowd parted before him, and the group sensed his approach. The senior member turned first and his smile shaded from amusement to bland greeting so quickly that anyone who did not know him might have missed it. He held out a gloved hand. "Draco..."

Draco ignored it, giving no more than a curt nod to his parents. His whole attention was on the teenage boys lounging against the piled luggage. "Rigel. Pavonus. Whichever one of you did this you will remove this bloody hex AT ONCE."

"Darling, there's no need to shout. People will be looking." Narcissa's attempt at peacemaking was doomed to failure.

"Too late, Mother. Harry Potter _was_ looking. And laughing with that prat Weasley. I expect they'll be owling me hair-restorer potion by morning. Along with solicitous notes." He turned his attention back to the students. "So whichever of my baby brothers did this they can remove it now, before I send an owl to their Headmistress recommending several weeks detention patrolling the Forbidden Forest."

Sixteen year old Rigel was the first to break under the furious glare. He shrugged. "It'll wear off once we're on the train - there's a proximity limitation."

The glare didn't waver.

Pavonus sighed. "Okay. You really can't take a joke, can you, Drac?" He gave a lazy wave of his wand and drawled " _Fin' Incant'm_."

Draco flipped back his newly restored fringe with a toss of his head. "Better," he said. "But you'll never pass your NEWTs this year, Pav. Professor Flitwick would never have let me get away with sloppy spellwork like that...."

"Yeah, yeah," Rigel chanted derisively. "Hogwarts has really gone downhill since _your_ day. Can't think why you're sending baby Scorp there..."

Draco clenched his fist and drew back his arm in automatic reaction. "If you two lay a hand on Scorpius..."

The imminent fight was halted abruptly as Lucius scythed his wand down between his warring sons with a firm _Silencio!_ The spell was unnecessary, the command alone silenced all three abruptly. Certain that he had their undivided attention the Malfoy patriarch spoke softly. "Draco, this is no example to set for my grandson. Go and settle Scorpius. And remind him that his grandmother and I will expect regular owls from him as soon as he's Sorted. I will deal with your brothers."

Still constrained by the spell, Draco nodded, and walked back along the platform to where his son was watching the exchange curiously. The boy's eyes lit up when he saw his father's restored appearance.

"That's a great spell, Dad. D'you think Uncle Pav would teach me?"

"Your Uncle Pavonus will be far too busy this year preparing for his NEWT exams. You're not to bother him. And you are certainly not to try out any spells that he or Uncle Rigel may want to test. Now, let's get you on the train. It's nearly eleven."

Draco heaved a sigh of relief as the clock chimed the hour and the train began to move out of the station. He would have to write to Scorpius with advice on how to deal with his brothers' pranks. For the first time in his life he felt some sympathy with Ron Weasley having to cope with overly inventive siblings at school.

He waved until the train rounded the curve of the track and was out of sight. The rest of the crowd who had come to see the pupils off on their journey were already moving back through the barrier when his parents came up to greet him properly. Lucius followed his son's gaze.

"It's not easy, the first time," he said.

Draco nodded. "He's so excited."

"So were you," said Narcissa. "I remember you were too excited to kiss me goodbye."

"That would have been undignified," Draco shook himself, and smiled, still feeling the damp mark of his son's farewell kiss on his cheek. "Now," he said, "As your punishment for spoiling my kid brothers rotten you are going to take us to the most conspicuous and expensive restaurant in Wizarding London to demonstrate that the Malfoys are still one big happy family - and that Draco Malfoy is NOT losing his hair."

FIN (possibly)


End file.
